


Hannah

by patchfire, raving_liberal



Series: Story of Three Boys [101]
Category: Glee
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-10
Updated: 2013-01-10
Packaged: 2017-11-25 00:20:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/633104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/patchfire/pseuds/patchfire, https://archiveofourown.org/users/raving_liberal/pseuds/raving_liberal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hannah rapidly becomes an old pro at CMH to LGA—and back again—as well as observing some interesting behavior over the years. [2013-April 2017]</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hannah

Hannah can't make herself sit still during class on Wednesday. Everyone, her teacher says, is 'squirrely', because of the break, but Hannah's pretty sure no one else should be as excited as she is. Finally, at the end of science, their teacher lets them go around and say what they're doing over the five day weekend. 

"I'm going to Skype with Sam for over an hour tomorrow!" Stevie starts them off, and Hannah's glad she's on the opposite side of the room for once, because she doesn't want to brag. A couple of kids are going to see an NBA game in Cleveland— _boring_ —and Rebecca's going to Cincinnati, and one kid is even going to Chicago to visit his grandparents, but Hannah just bounces in her seat waiting for her turn. 

"I'm going to New York!" she finally says. "I'm flying by myself tomorrow morning from Columbus and I won't be back until Monday. Noah and Kurt are going to meet me at the airport and we're going to go to the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty and everything, except for when they're in class or have to work."

Ms. Symons looks surprised. "Flying by yourself? Who exactly are you going to see?"

"My brother and his boyfriend," Hannah answers matter-of-factly, grinning at the brief moment of surprise on Ms. Symons face. 

"Well, be sure to take lots of pictures."

"I will!" 

Hannah checks and double-checks her luggage before bed, finally falling asleep with her clothes for the next day already laid out, and her alarm goes off at 3 am, because her mom wants her checked in an hour ahead of her flight, and it's going to take almost two hours to drive to Columbus. Hannah falls back asleep on the drive, even though she doesn't mean to, and they let her mom come to the gate with her because she's flying as an "unaccompanied minor".

"Do what Noah and Kurt tell you," Mom says as they start to board. "Make sure they have time to do their schoolwork."

"I know, Mom. That's why I have my DSi and books, remember?" Hannah hugs Rina and then waves over her shoulder as the flight attendant escorts her onto the plane and straight to her seat, putting Hannah's carryon in the bin for her. Hannah thinks about playing her DSi, but she's too excited about flying for the first time to concentrate, and before takeoff, she's put it away, peering out the window at the lights receding. Noah said that he thought she'd like to see out the window, so they'd gotten her a window seat in both directions. 

It's not even 8 in the morning when the plane lands, flying over the city, and the same flight attendant gets Hannah's bag down for her and walks her off the plane and all the way to where people wait. 

"Noah! Kurt!" Hannah can see them waiting for her, not looking much different than they did over winter break, and when she yells, they straighten and head for her. She flings herself at Noah while Kurt says something to the flight attendant, and then Hannah's being shepherded through baggage claim and onto a bus. 

"Hungry, squirt?" Noah asks her. 

Hannah nods. "Are you going to take me to get bagels? Mom said I should try a bagel and Nana said I should bring her back some bagels on Monday!"

"Bagels another morning, we thought," Kurt answers her. "We're going to a little place not far from the apartment today, called Alice's. Your brother likes it because he can eat bacon and chocolate and call it a legitimate breakfast."

Hannah giggles and grins at the woman watching them when Noah leans over and kisses Kurt right there on the bus. The woman smiles back at Hannah, not looking surprised or anything, and at the next stop, she leans across the aisle. "Are you visiting your brother?"

"I am! It's the first time I've been on a plane and now the first time I've been in New York."

"Make sure he takes you at least one place that’s educational," the woman says with a wink, before she gets off a stop later. 

"Where _are_ we going, Noah?" Hannah asks. "Besides the breakfast place?"

Noah laughs. "I have class after that, and then Kurt's going to go to work, so you and I will find something to do until this evening."

"What's this evening?"

"Remember the CD we gave you for Hanukkah?" Kurt asks. 

"That musical?" Hannah asks, then nods. "Yeah. Why?"

"That's what's the evening," Noah says.

"Really? Broadway? You're taking me to a musical?" Hannah grins. "This is _so cool_."

It really is, too; Kurt gives her a quick tour of the neighborhood, because they want her to know where to go if they all get separated, and when Noah's done with class, he takes her to his Starbucks and introduces her to a few people, so she can go there, too. By the time they leave the musical, which is _so_ cool, because they had awesome seats, and she already knew the music, Hannah's exhausted, and she doesn't actually remember the last few subway stops.

The next morning she wakes up on the futon, under the blankets, and she realizes Noah or Kurt must've carried her home and put her in bed. "What're we doing today?" she asks as she sits up, and Noah laughs above her. 

"Not as much exciting today, squirt. You and Kurt can go shopping or something this morning, but then he's got class and I have to work, so today's the day for your books and crap."

"Okay," Hannah agrees, yawning. "But you don't work tomorrow, right?"

"Neither of us," Kurt agrees. "And Allison's agreed to come over Sunday morning so you don't have to get up when we go to work."

"Awesome!"

Kurt takes her to the Nintendo store and the M&M store, where she carefully parcels out her Hanukkah money, and it's not exactly exciting later, at Noah's work, but she has her new DSi game at least. Kurt has school stuff on campus after his classes, Noah says, so she stays with Noah at Starbucks. When it's almost his dinner break, he lets her order dinner online and then go a block over to pick up their food, all by herself. 

"You'll make a New Yorker out of her," one of Noah's coworkers says, and Noah grins. 

"There are worse fates, right, squirt?"

"It's really cool," Hannah agrees, because it is, and also because Noah likes it so much. The city's even bigger than she thought it would be, and it's somewhat confusing, but she understands a little now, what their mom meant after Noah was home over the winter break. Hannah overheard her telling someone that Noah didn't fit in Lima anymore, that he belonged in New York, and Hannah thought that was funny at the time. Now, though, Hannah thinks maybe she knows. She can't remember Noah ever being so relaxed and happy. 

The three of them spend Saturday on a whirlwind tour of New York City. They go up in the Empire State Building, over to Ellis Island, ice skating at the Rockefeller Center, and out to dinner at a place where they can watch the chefs, which is the best part of the day, as far as Hannah's concerned, and she falls asleep on the subway _again_. This time, though, she wakes up when Noah picks her up, enough to get herself ready for bed when they're back at Noah and Kurt's apartment. 

Allison turns out to be pretty cool, and on Sunday afternoon they FaceTime with Finn, who's apparently visiting them soon, too. The three of them act kind of weird, and Noah keeps shooting her glances, like there's something wrong with her watching them all talk. They walk around Central Park and then Noah insists she has to go to bed early, because of traveling the next day.

They do get up really early, and they get bagels, with some for Nana that Hannah puts in her carryon, before taking the subway and the bus back to the airport. "Don't you have school?" Hannah murmurs, feeling a little sleepy in spite of herself.

"Not today, squirt," Noah answers. "We'll go through security with you and someone will walk you to meet Nana when you land, okay?"

"I remember." Hannah sighs and looks out the window. "Can I come back again soon?"

"Only sister I've got."

Hannah watches the city disappear below the plane again, and she ignores the woman across the aisle, who keeps asking her where she's going and who she was visiting. It's a relief to walk with the flight attendant to meet Nana, who eats one of her bagels right away. 

"The best part, though," Hannah tells Nana, "is that I know I had the best weekend of anyone else who lives in Lima."

Nana laughs. "You probably did."

 

Hannah knows Noah tries to keep in touch with her, and from talking to Stevie, he does a lot more than Sam. But it’s still weird, having Noah so far away. He was home for just over a week, along with Kurt and Finn, right before her birthday, and then they left on her birthday, late that afternoon. That, plus her trip in February, is all she’s seen of him in 2013. They FaceTime on her computer or Skype on her mom’s, and he texts her and sends her silly emails or pictures when he remembers, but Hannah is still counting down the days on her calendar until Friday, August 9. Once she leaves camp that day, her mom’s driving her to the airport in Columbus, and she won’t be back for over a week. Kurt and Noah both have to work while she’s there, but they work weird hours and they’ll still have afternoons and evenings, plus two Saturdays and a Tuesday that they’re both off. 

Rina gives her an envelope to pack deep in her carryon, with money in it. “That’s for some of your back to school shopping,” Rina says, smiling at her. “Whatever you don’t get, we’ll pick up on Monday before school starts or the weekend after school starts, okay?”

 _That_ at least is normal, Noah helping her with her back to school shopping, and Hannah grins. “Thanks, Mom!”

The flight is quick, and Hannah’s pretty sure she’s getting used to flying, now. She lands in New York before 9 pm and Kurt and Noah take her straight to a diner near their apartment, ordering all three of them milkshakes before they go back to the apartment. 

Everything’s a little more familiar, this time; she remembers the buildings on either side, even in the dark. The next morning, she wakes up to the smell of breakfast cooking. 

“Noah?” she mumbles into the futon. “Is that real bacon?”

“This kitchen is _not_ kosher,” Noah says, laughing. “Real bacon and some fried eggs sound good? We’ve got bread, too, if you want toast.”

“You really are the best brother,” Hannah admits as she sits down at their funny little fold-out table. 

They spend all of Saturday taking her around even more of New York City than she saw before, including the Central Park Zoo, and almost every afternoon is a repeat of the same thing. On Tuesday, they go down to TKTS and score tickets to _The Lion King_ for that night, which makes the second Broadway show Hannah’s seen, both ever and in 2013. 

“How many have you two seen?”

“Seven for me, eight for K,” Noah answers her. “He saw one as part of orientation last August.”

“ _The Book of Mormon_ , and we haven’t managed to get it through TKTS yet,” Kurt says. “So I’ve just made him listen to the recording.”

“Plus we both saw _Rock of Ages_ last year, _Wicked_ during Hanukkah, and of course _Once_ with you, squirt.”

“That’s only three or four.”

“We’ve gone down to the TKTS booth four other times,” Noah says. “While Finn’s been here. Two in January and two this summer. _Mamma Mia!_ , _Evita_ , _Newsies_ which wasn’t as good as the hype, and finally—”

“ _Spider-Man Turn Off the Dark_ ,” Kurt and Noah say together, laughing. 

“I’m glad we saw it,” Kurt says primly. “So we can say that we did. Other than that, though.” He shudders. “I will _not_ be purchasing the cast recording of it. Ever. But that’s just musicals we’ve seen.”

“I don’t get to go see any of the plays,” Noah says. “I fell asleep the first and only time. No music to keep me awake I guess.”

Hannah giggles. “Okay!”

On Wednesday after Noah gets done with work, he takes Hannah to the Staples up Broadway, between 80th and 81st, and she’s proud of herself for getting that right. When they’re walking back, someone stops Noah and asks directions to Zabar’s, and she pipes up and gets that right, too. 

Thursday afternoon is clothes shopping. They go into Midtown and hit H&M first, Kurt leading the charge, and then the two of them tell her to pick out _one_ outfit at American Girl. She picks out a dress and leggings, before Kurt leaves her and Noah in a Starbucks. 

“I’m going to go scour the clearance racks. I’ll be back in forty-five minutes.”

“What are we supposed to do for forty-five minutes, Noah?” Hannah asks, frowning. 

Noah laughs. “Why do you think I brought my backpack?” He pulls out his iPad and then Hannah’s DSi. “Put your earbuds in and I’ll go get us a drink. We’ll get dinner once K’s done.”

“Why do you call him K so much?” Hannah asks when Noah returns. 

“It’s a little shorter?” Noah says sheepishly, then laughs. “Nah, I don’t know. I just like it, and he does, too, so.”

“Oh, okay.” Hannah plays on her DSi for fifty minutes, actually, before Kurt returns with two more bags and a satisfied smile on his face. 

“There’s a Chipotle nearby. I know it’s not that fancy, but it’s relatively quick,” Kurt says. “And then we can pretend we did something educational by taking you inside the New York Public Library.”

Hannah laughs. “Sounds good!”

Friday and Saturday feel like they fly by; by Sunday afternoon, Hannah’s packing while Noah and Kurt alternate showering after work. The wheels of the plane leave New York soil just after six, and by 8:30, she’s back in Rina’s car, driving towards Lima from Columbus. 

“Did you have a good time?” Rina asks once they’ve stopped for a snack.

“It was so much fun, Mom! It’s still really big,” Hannah confides. “But I think I have their little neighborhood figured out. Most of the blocks are actually square! Like in a math book. Except for Broadway. Oh, and we saw _The Lion King_!” Hannah stops herself. “But I’ll start with when I got there.”

 

Hannah at first thinks it’s a good sign that Noah’s come home so often in the fall that she’s in fifth grade, but during winter break he tells her that he doesn’t think he and Kurt will be back at Thanksgiving again, and that he’s talking to their mom about coming out to New York next year. Hannah gets him to promise that she can see the Macy’s Parade and shrugs philosophically. She’ll get to visit him in New York again soon enough. 

‘Soon enough’ ends up meaning her spring break, which means she misses seeing Finn, too, by a few days or a week or something. Noah and Kurt have classes and work like they have before, but Noah gives her even a little more freedom. 

“You’re almost eleven,” he says with a shrug. “Plenty of kids around here walk to school younger than that. I think you can walk up the block to run an errand or just browse while I’m working.” 

“Can I walk between your work and Kurt’s?” Hannah asks.

“Maybe by the end of the week,” Noah says with a laugh, then gets back to work. 

New York feels a little less exotic to Hannah this time. It’s still too big, a little scary, and overwhelming when she looks at the subway map. She knows a slightly bigger area of it well by the time she gets back on the plane, though. 

 

“Is there a reason you don’t want me here the same time as Finn?” Hannah asks in August. “You just told me he left _this morning_. You haven’t been home yet even!”

“The apartment’s small,” Noah answers, not looking at Hannah, and she can see his fingers wrap around Kurt’s hand and squeeze. Kurt squeezes back, and he doesn’t meet Hannah’s eyes either. 

“Exactly, Hannah,” Kurt says a little too brightly. “And since you’ll be here longer this time, we’ve rearranged our schedules to have three days in a row off next week.”

“Cool! What are we going to do?”

“That’s your assignment to keep you busy while we work today,” Noah says, smirking at her. “You get to figure out what we should do.”

“Noah!” Hannah glares at him. “I have to decide what we’re doing. Do I still have to get your lunch, too?”

“Nah, you get to get my lunch and K’s. We were thinking we’d let you go all the way up Broadway to Zabar’s, too.”

“That’s ten blocks from your Starbucks!” Hannah says, eyes wide.

“Scared?” Noah teases.

“No!” Hannah giggles. “But we won’t tell Mom.”

Noah and Kurt laugh, nodding their heads. “No, we won’t tell your mother,” Kurt agrees. “We’ll save that for at least next year.”

Hannah giggles again. “Maybe longer. But sure, Noah. I’ll do your grocery shopping. As long as you give me plenty of money.”

Noah sighs dramatically. “I knew there was a problem with this plan. She already caught on, Kurt.”

“Alas.” Kurt grins at her. “We were hoping you wouldn’t realize until after the first trip.”

This time, when Hannah leaves, she decides she’s really going to miss it – not just Noah and Kurt, but their neighborhood, walking over to Central Park, and running quick errands. She won’t tell her mom exactly how far she’s gone by herself, but she resolves to start getting more free reign in Lima. If she can safely go ten blocks in _Manhattan_ , then why can’t she in Lima, Ohio? 

 

A year later, Hannah’s been to New York three more times—for Thanksgiving, Noah and Kurt’s wedding, and then spring break—and she’s twelve, about to start seventh grade when she gets back to Lima. 

“Let me guess. I have to plan what to do when you two aren’t working?” Hannah says as they ride on the bus back over to Manhattan. “That’s going to get old for three whole weeks.”

“Well, actually, we’ve been discussing that a bit,” Kurt says. 

“Yeah?”

“There’s no reason you can’t stay at the apartment and wake up at a normal time,” Noah tells her. 

“You mean it? I don’t have to get up at 5?”

“You can get up when you like,” Kurt says with a nod. 

“We were thinking it’d be eight or nine, then you can shower and eat breakfast at the apartment. After that, I do want you to come down and at least check in with me. Ennis isn’t much of a supervisory figure,” Noah says. 

“There’s a branch of the public library on 65th, plus you know most of the stores around the apartment. We’re both done by around two, so it’s not too long to entertain yourself.”

Hannah can’t help grinning and letting out a little squeal. “This is going to be awesome.”

And it is. Noah does call their mom to make sure she’s not supposed to be doing any summer reading or anything, which leads to Noah, Kurt, and Rina arranging for her to do more work than she expected. She didn’t expect to do any, though, so making her practice piano for half an hour, along with some reading, isn’t the worst thing. It’s the first time Hannah’s set her own schedule, even for a short period of time, but she quickly does fall into one, spending the rest of the time that they’re at work researching things for all three of them to do or just fooling around online. 

By the time Hannah gets on the plane to head back to Lima, she actually feels a little torn, for the first time. She’s always been glad to arrive but equally glad to leave, but this time she knows she’s going to miss the Upper West Side. The city as a whole, even just Manhattan, is still overwhelming, but the blocks she knows well now, she’s a little sad to leave. 

Rina, Hannah, and Nana all fly out to New York for Thanksgiving, and Noah, Kurt, and Finn are all home for a few days during winter break that year. Noah and Kurt come over for a late Hanukkah celebration, and Noah talks about the graduate schools he and Kurt applied to, which makes Rina look a little funny, for some reason. 

When she visits Kurt and Noah during spring break, things feel different in their apartment, though she can’t put a finger on what it is. All she can tell is that it doesn’t have anything to do with her, and then as they put her on the plane to head back, Noah informs her that they’ve told Rina she can probably come out a week earlier this year, spend the whole month before school in New York. 

“Bring your keyboard with you, and finish up all your required summer reading before, okay Squirt?” Noah says. “Then you can just go to the library or check out some ebooks.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” Hannah agrees, giving Noah and Kurt each a hug before she boards the plane. 

“You’re so calm,” the flight attendant compliments her on the way back to Ohio. “Calmer than a few of the adults a few rows up.”

Hannah laughs. “I’ve made this trip nine or ten times, at least!”

“New York to Columbus?”

“Columbus to New York and then back again,” Hannah says, nodding. “My brothers live in New York.”

“You’re a good traveler!” The flight attendant smiles and brings her an extra beverage at no charge fifteen minutes later, which makes Hannah grin. 

Hannah does spend a month in New York before eighth grade starts, another four days at Thanksgiving, and a week during spring break, each time learning the Upper West Side and parts of Central Park a little better. 

“So do I get to spend the entire summer here this year?” Hannah asks as they sit on the bus, heading towards LaGuardia. 

“No,” Kurt answers her with a grin. “Why, did you want to?”

“I’d miss Lima, I guess,” Hannah admits. “And Mom. And sometimes New York is still _so_ big. But it’d be fun, too.”

“We’ll see about it?” Noah offers. “We might— well, we’ll just wait and see, Hannah.”

“Okay. Tell Finn I said that his breath smells worse than a thousand skunks raised on asparagus when you see him next.”

Kurt and Noah exchange a look before laughing briefly. “Sure,” Noah says. 

“Why do the two of you look funny when I bring up Finn? Like, _every_ time.” Hannah narrows her eyes. “I know you’re still friends with him. What’s the problem?”

“Friends,” Kurt mutters under his breath, which is weird, and he shakes his head. 

“There’s no problem,” Noah says, then stops and looks at Kurt. “She’s smart.”

“We’ll all talk about it,” Kurt says, nodding, and Hannah has no idea what they’re talking about, except that she was right, there’s definitely something odd, something that they’re not telling her. 

“Nothing to worry about, Squirt,” Noah says, grinning at her, and Hannah lets it drop as they arrive at the airport. 

“I’ll see you at the end of May?” Hannah asks, walking towards her gate.

“Just before your birthday,” Noah agrees. “I think it’s the 26th or the 27th that we fly in. Sound good?”

“See you then!”


End file.
